Thursday, September 4, 2008

THE DENMAN IS. BLACKBERRY FAIRE

The 2008 Denman Is. green goddess, created by members of the community

Every year, on Labour Day, there is a community fair held in the field next to the Community Hall on Denman Island. It was pretty low-key this year, but a lovely day, and I had all of my children visiting, and all but 2 grandchildren.

DH waited patiently for the local arts society to set up their booth selling used CD's and videos-- he is an avid music collector and often scores some real gems there! Some of my visiting granddaughters and I perused the used books at another booth and found a few gems of our own!

My three Denman Is. granddaughters were busy selling homemade lollipops, lemonade and little blackberry-apple pies at their own table. They made a pretty good profit!

My #2 daughter did the "Blackberry Run" and finished in a a very respectable time! Actually, some ran, some jogged, some walked, some ran and walked (some with dogs!), some biked, and at least one roller-bladed! (That must be difficult uphill!)

Waiting for the Run to start...

My daughter crossing the finish line

In the afternoon, we all gathered to cheer on the Denman Is. softball team, a mixed men and women's team. They were playing the Denman Is. Fire Department team, which only had one woman! There was a bit of a rivalry going on there! One couple from the island was split between the two-- the husband on the Fire Dept. team, and the wife on the Denman Is. team. Interesting conversation going on afterward! It was a close game, and ended in a tie (somewhat controversially!).

I was distracted by all the family being there, so I forgot to take very many pictures! CLICK HERE FOR SOME PHOTOS FROM LAST YEAR'S FAIRE! It will give you a better idea of what goes on.

HERE ARE SOME PHOTOS THAT I DID MANAGE TO TAKE (# 5,6 and 8 were taken by my #1 daughter):

Three cousins enjoying the new playground

My son in the field (center)

Two granddaughters watching the action

My son at bat

A. at bat

And here she is taking a man out

Three granddaughters relaxing in the shade as the game progresses, sampling the lollipops that their cousins made

My son shaking hands after the game

My #3 son-in-law brought some Boursin® Cheese spread to the house on this visit. He wondered if it was possible to make a vegan version that tasted as rich and delicious. Always eager to prove that "it can be done", I went to work in the kitchen and developed a vegan recipe recipe.

WHAT IS BOURSIN®?From Wikipedia: "Boursin® cheese is a soft creamy cheese available in a variety of flavours. Its flavor and texture is somewhat similar to the American cream cheese.Boursin® cheese was first produced in 1957 by François Boursin in Normandy. Boursin® is a trademark - Boursin® cheese was at one time produced exclusively in Croisy-sur-Eure, France, by the Boursin® company, a subsidiary of Group Bel, but is now also produced in the United States for North American distribution by Unilever."

Checking online to see if anyone had already done the work for me, I found only one vegan recipe (repeated several times on various sites), which involved buying Tofutti Better than Cream Cheese (really expensive where I live, and, besides, I didn't have any, nor was I going to go off-island to get some!), and 1 whole cup of Earth Balance, which sounded rather more fatty than necessary! I decided to make my own from scratch.

DSIL loved the new spread, and he is definitely NOT a vegetarian, never mind a vegan. He actually said, and I quote his exact words: "I would eat this every day!"

It is quite delicious, but a rich spread for my taste and requirements, except on special occasions. However, comparing the two spreads: 1 tablespoon contains 43 calories, slightly less than 4 g fat (1 g saturated), and no cholesterol. It contains 100 mg LESS sodium than the "real thing" and only slightly less protein.

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